She and her husband paid for the training. And, as I mentioned in the article, there are many openings in this field and many schools teaching these skills to committed students. So it doesn't seem fair to assume she bumped someone else. Perhaps she did. But even so, it's not fair to assume.

Allow me to clarify. The court case referenced was ruled on in 2003 and the Michigan amendment was approved in 2006. In the news industry, six years with no developments would qualifies as long dormant. It's something of a subjective term (it's not like "long dormant" is defined someplace to mean four years or three months or 44 years), so I understand your arguments.

But to say this is a failure to deliver the facts is just plain false. It's an interpretation of a subjective phrase.

There have been affirmative action developments since 2006 in other states in recent years, but none so powerfully brought the issue into the national consciousness the way the UM cases did in the early 2000s. This means the issue has been largely out of the spotlight for several years.

And just to see if any other outlets are on my side, I punched "dormant" and "affirmative action" into a Google news search. I found this line from a February 21 New York Times Story: "(The case) may force the candidates to weigh in on a long dormant and combustible issue that has divided the electorate."

Thanks for reading and pointing this out. I'm happy to respond further or discuss via phone at 810-347-8194.

You're right, these superintendents likely aren't competing for the designation of most student in the county. However, what these figures do is illustrate a trend that's been on its way for a long time. I think Jerry Johnson in the article said it well: this is more of an interesting historical designation than something with tangible effects for either school. What is real are the struggles both have with re-sizing their district to fit a changing head count.

We simply thought it was interesting and important to point out how close these districts are to flipping the one and two spot, since each have held them for so long.

I used to wonder the same thing: why are motorcycles so loud? Then a few years ago I was doing a story on motorcycle safety, and a driving instructor told me the loud engines actually serve as an important safety feature. If a car driver can't see a motorcycle (and many times they can't) at least they can hear it.

Thanks for the feedback. We simply didn't have room to include all these details, as they only apply to the few who may be interested. But here's some information on that from the Michigan Department of State:

"A candidate without political party affiliation who wishes to seek a partisan office left vacant
due to recall can gain access to the ballot by filing a qualifying petition. The petition must be
filed with the appropriate filing official no later than the 90th day prior to the election or the
15th day after the special election to fill the vacancy is called – whichever date falls later.
(Note: If the special election is conducted in conjunction with the even-year November
general election, the qualifying petition filing deadline elapses at 4:00 p.m. on the 110th day
prior to the election.) "

The process is further outlined in Michigan election law, which can be found through Chapter 36 of Michigan Act 116.

Hope this helps. If you, or someone you know, is applying to run as a third-party candidate, please let me know.